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Hell Hath No Fury...
"Hell Hath No Fury..." is the seventeenth episode of Miami Vice's fourth season. The episode premiered on March 11, 1988 and repeated on July 29, 1988. Summary The release of a convicted rapist has Trudy fearing he has revenge planned against his accuser. Plot A tabloid show hosted by Murray Phillips (John Michael Higgins) is doing a story on Alan Beaks (Don Harvey), a convicted rapist, who is being paroled and seems to be a changed man, having founded a prison choir and expanded the library system. D.A. Freida Lewis, who prosecuted Beaks, feels he is being released too soon, having only served 18 months of a three year sentence (and implying he got that reduced from a 7-10 year normal sentence because of his family's money). The show asked Beaks' victim, Ellen Mason (Carla Brothers) to be on the show but she declined, so Phillips decides to call her on the show live, but Trudy (who was with Ellen during the original arrest, trial and conviction) is there with Ellen, telling her not to answer it. Beaks decides to call her himself from a payphone, and this time she does answer; he tells her she should have accepted his apology, and now he will have to teach her a lesson. Castillo orders Trudy away from Ellen, saying her involvement in the case ended when Beaks was convicted, but Trudy is resistant, saying Beaks threatened to kill Ellen at sentencing; she doesn't believe Beaks is reformed and strongly suspects he will come after her again. Castillo cautions her about personal vendettas, and urges that she know the boundaries. The press, provoked by Philips, begins hounding Ellen at her school and home, forming an enormous crowd on her front lawn. Ellen's neighborhood quickly turns into a media circus, and Trudy forces her way into Ellen's house, upsetting Castillo. Phillips fuels the frenzy by putting on his show there, claiming Beaks will be there to apologize to Ellen; he is clearly milking the situation for all it is worth, interviewing random citizens who don't have a clue what's going on and portraying Beaks as the wronged person. Beaks arrives and uses a bullhorn, given to him by Phillips, to try and reach Ellen. Trudy snaps and storms into the front yard, shoving around a couple of cameramen and screaming at Beaks until Crockett & Tubbs arrive and drag her inside. Crockett & Tubbs speak to the parole board psychiatrist, Deborah Finley, who feels Beaks has been rehabilitated and is ready to resume a normal life. Trudy is still at Ellen's home (Ellen now reduced to hiding behind chairs); Gina & Tubbs stop by to convince Trudy to leave and stop babysitting Ellen; Trudy refuses to leave or to have anything to do with either of them if they won't help. Ellen does nothing but watch videos of the news reports over and over, then gets an idea from the end of Phillips' last show. She buys a copy of American Mercenary and, provoked by another call from Beaks, sets up a hit on him with Charles Hatch (John Finn), whose ad she found in the magazine. Trudy finds the magazine and confronts Ellen, who orders her out of the house. Hatch attempts to strangle Beaks outside his apartment, but is forced to flee when a group of people show up. Castillo orders Trudy off the Beaks case, and has Gina & Switek monitor Beaks until he can obtain a court order. Tubbs tries to reason with Ellen, but she won't admit to hiring the hitman; she tells him he would do the same thing if someone he cared about was being threatened the way she is. The judge denies Castillo the court order, telling him it would only exacerbate the media circus, and so Castillo calls Switek & Gina off of Beaks. Seeing the reporters surrounding his apartment, Beaks calls his psychiatrist and complains that he's getting treated badly for a rehabilitated ex-con, before leaving with Switek & Gina on his tail. Beaks goes to Ellen's school to harass her again; Ellen freaks out and attacks Beaks with a pair of scissors. When Beaks grabs her and tries to take the scissors away Gina and Switek storm in and arrest Beaks for "trespassing." Beaks is released because Ellen was holding the scissors, angering her. Crockett & Tubbs visit American Mercenary's headquarters to get the names & addresses of their advertisers; they go down the list and find Hatch, who is currently at a firing range honing his skills. Hatch leaves before Crockett & Tubbs get there, but they learn he is "on a mission" and head over to Beaks' place. Unfortunately, they arrive too late to stop Hatch from shooting Beaks dead through his apartment window. In the ensuing gunfight Crockett tries to appeal to Hatch through their shared history as Vietnam Vets, but Hatch keeps firing, then feigns being hit to lure Crockett out; Trudy arrives and shoots Hatch down. Castillo confronts the team in the briefing room and expresses his disgust with their emotional actions in the Beaks case, asking for their transfers by the end of the day if they cannot do their duties professionally. Trudy is angry and upset by what an unrepentant Ellen has done, but can't tie her into Beaks's death or the hiring of the hitman. Ellen, to her horror, gets a call from someone who sounds like Beaks, telling her she "should have accepted the apology!" Cast *Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett *Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs *Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese *Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek *Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin *Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo Guest Stars *Don Harvey as Alan Beaks *John Finn as Charles Hatch *John Michael Higgins as Murray Phillips *Carla Brothers as Ellen Mason Co-Starring *Carolyn Jae Bennett as Deborah Finley *Susan Bogusky as Woman in Audience *Sherry Diamant as Landlady *Al Hubbs as Fitzgerald *Vincent Lacey as Little Boy *Frank Logan as Judge Borges *Joy McConnochie as Newscaster *John Morrow as Reporter *Rick Rawitz as Shooter *Julie Ann Sipos as D.A. Freida Lewis "Ripped From The Headlines" This episode shows the inherent cracks in the judicial system and the press' involvement in creating circus-type atmospheres with high-profile crime cases, as well as exploring the rehabilitation of a convicted rapist. There is still a debate today as to whether a sexual deviant can be rehabilitated. Notes *The title refers to the saying: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!" *Normally a rape victim's name is never released to the press (though with the internet it is possible to locate the victim's name). *"Murray Phillips" may be a reference to Maury Povich, who hosted the tabloid show A Current Affair in the 1980's, and has had his own talk show (produced by Comcast-NBC-Universal) since 1991, recently focusing mainly on paternity & lie-detector tests for his guests. Production Notes *Filmed: February 8, 1988 - February 17, 1988 *Production Code: 63521 *Production Order: 85 Filming Locations *705 NW 14th Street, Miami Beach (Ellen's apartment) *Collins Avenue / 12th Street, Miami Beach (Ellen walks home to the media circus) *The Tides Hotel, 1220 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach (Beaks' Apartment) *Side street 100 Collins Court, Miami Beach (Gina & Switek shadow Beaks) Music No music is played other than Jan Hammer's & John Petersen's soundtrack. Quotes *"What if the evaluation is wrong, and Beaks isn't rehabilitated...who's going to admit to that failure?" -- Crockett to Deborah Finley *"First Beaks raped me, then the courts raped me, and now the press is raping me!" -- Ellen Mason *"Your behavior in the Beaks case was abominable...you allowed your personal feelings to influence your performance as police officers. I have to be able to treat you like professionals...if you're not prepared to act like professionals in the future, I would like your transfer requests on my desk by the end of the day!" -- Castillo to his team Category:Miami Vice Season 4 Episodes